Protective or guard appliance.



No. 635,470. Patented Oct. 24, I899.

' E. FRISCHMUTH.

PROTECTIVE OR GUARD APPLIANCE.

(Application filed June 3, 1899.)

(No Model.)

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EMMERICH FRISCHMUTH, OF BERLIN, GERMANY, ASSIGN OR TO THE SIEMENS &HALSKE ELECTRIC COMPANY OF AMERICA, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

PROTECTIVE OR GUARD APPLIANCE.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 635,470, dated October24, 1899.

Application filed June 3,1899. Serial No. 719,336. (No model.)

To aZl whom it may concern.-

Be it known that LEMMERIcH FRISCHMUTH, a subject of the German Emperor,residing at Berlin, Germany, have invented acertain new and usefulImprovement in Protective 'or Guard Appliances, (Case No. 194,) of whichthe following is a full, clear, concise, and exact description.

My invention relates to improvements in a protective or guard appliancefor high-potential conductors, and has forits object the provision ofmeans for preventing the damage and danger likely to result when aconductor or wire is accidentally brought in contact with anotherconductor of a high-potential circuit.

More particularly my invention is adapted to be employed in connectionwith trolleywires of electrical traction systems to prevent accidentsresulting from the crossing of conductors of grounded or low-potentialcircuits with the trolley-wire.

It has previously been the practice to prevent the contact of brokenconductors with the trolley-wire by employing nets or other mechanicalappliances which are designed to support any broken or misplacedconductor out of engagement and at some distance from the trolley-wire.This, however, not only involves an unsightly and somewhat expensiveconstruction, but in addition does not perfectly guard theconnectedapparatuses of the neighboring circuits from accident,sinceeven with these precautions broken conductors sometimes engage livewires, thereby fre quently causing serious damage.

Myinvention contemplates the provision of a guard or protectiveconductor which is maintained in proximity to the live trolley-wire, thesaid conductor preferably being connected with the rail or opposingconductor of the trolley-circuit.

My invention will be more readily understood by a reference to theaccompanying drawings, wherein are shown somewhat diagrammaticallyportions of a trolley railwayline illustrating methods of practicing myinvention.

The same letter of reference is used to designate like parts in bothfigures of the drawlngs.

Referring to Figure 1, it will be seen that the trolley-wire a issupported above the rails in the usual manner by means of-cross wirescarried upon poles b. Spacing-insulators c, disposed at suitabledistances, connect the said trolley-wire with the guard-wire d, which isstrung between and connected with the cross-wires c, the said.insulators serving to maintain the guard-wire and trolley-wire in closeproximity In order to secure more efficient connection betweentheguard-wire or protective conductor d and the rail f, serving for thereturn-conductor for the trolley-circuit, a special conductor may extendfrom the pole to the rail, as shown by the dotted lines. Stay-wires gmay, if desired, be run from the trolley-wire to the terminals of theguard-wire d, suitable insulation h being illterposed iherebetween.

The arrangement shown in Fig. 2 is very similar to that of Fig. '1, withthe exception that the supporting-wires c are not utilized for carryingthe guard-wire or conducting the current to the rail, since theterminals of the guard-wire d are connected by diagonal wires directlywith the poles, which serve also to ground the said wire or connect thesame to the rail f. By employing this arrangement it will be seen thatthe protective conductor cl may be maintained in very close proximity tothe trolley-wire, although insulated therefrom by the spacing-insulatorsc, disposed at suitable distances to maintain the relative positions ofthe wires.

By employing the spacing-insulators at fre quent intervals between theguard-Wire and the protected conductor the latter, it will be seen, issupported in part throughout its length by the said guard-wire, and,moreover, should the conductor break, the insulators, which preferablyare disposed near enough together to prevent the severed ends fromreaching the ground, will accordingly serve to obviate accidentsfrequently resulting from the breakage of the exposed electricalconductor.

It will be understood that the guard-wires d need be placed in positiononly in localities where there is danger of accidental short-circuitingof the current-as, for example, when telegraph or telephone wires arecarried above the trolley-wires. When the arrangement herein describedis employed, there is practically no opportunity for a broken wire orother conductor to accidentally come in contact with the trolley-wirewithout also engaging the guard-wire disposed above thetrolley-conductor, thus serving immediately to ground the misplacedconductor and prevent accident. By employing the spacing-insulators c atsuitable intervals the distance between the guard and trolley wires maybe very materially reduced, thus reducing the liability of accidentalshort-circuiting. The construction is simple, since the same crosswirecan, if desired, be employed to suspend both the guard and trolley wiresand serve at the same time to connect the former with the ground or therail-conductor, as previously explained. Moreover, the guard-wireassists in supporting the trolley-wire, and in ordinary eases thisadditional protective appliance may be placed in position withoutaltering or increasing the number of supports.

At curves a side wire may be utilized as well for the purposes ofaguard-wire. Somewhat more efficient protection may be secured byemploying a plurality of guard -wircs, which may be situated to the sideof as well as above the trolley-conductor, although commonly thisprecaution is not necessary. Those familiar with the art will readilyappreciate that the protective conductor or conductors disposed inproximity to any live insulated conductor will in many instances befound as cflicient and desirable as in the precise instance hereindescribed illustrative of myinvention.

I am aware of the issue of United States Letters Patent No. 443,527,dated December 30, 1890, illustrating the employment of a particularform of guard-wire, and am also aware of the use of guard-wires in theprior art, and I do not desire to be understood as broadly claiming theuse of a guard-wire in connection with electrical conductors. I believe,however, that it is novel to employ a guardwire associated with anexposed electrical conductor, from which guard-wire the latter isseparated and partially supported by means of space-insulators, whichserve to maintain the relative position of the wires, said guardwirepreferably being electrically connected to the opposing conductor of theprotected circuit or with the ground.

I claim, therefore, and desire to secure by these Letters Patent, thefollowing:

1. The combination with an exposed electrical conductor forming one lineof a working circuit, of a guard-wire grounded or connected with theopposite line of the Working eircuit,and spacing-insulators uniting thesaid conductors and maintaining the same in close proximity to eachother, substantially as and for the purpose described.

2. In a system of electrical distribution, the combination with anexposed or non-insulated conductor a, of a guard-conductor d lying inproximity thereto and connected with the opposite or return conductor ofthe system and spacing-insulators disposed at intervals between the saidconductors adapted to maintain the same in their relative positions,substantially as and for the purpose described.

3. The combination with the trolley-conductor Ct of an electric railway,of a guardwire (Z supported above and in immediate proximity to the saidconductor by means of spacing-insulators c disposed at suitableintervals throughout their length, the said guard-wire being connectedwith the opposite or return circuit f, substantially as and for thepurpose described.

4. In asystem of electricaldistribution, the combination with theexposed Working conduetor a, of sectional guard-wires (Z extending overportions of the said conductor a and in proximity thereto, theconductors a and (Z being maintained in their relative positions bymeans of spacing-insulators and an additional conductor uniting theprotective conductor (Z with the return-circuit of the working conductora, substantially as described.

5. In a system of electrical distribution, the combination with theexposed working conductor a, of sectional guard-wires d extending overportions of the said conductor a and in proximity thereto, theconductors a and (I being maintained in their relative positions bymeans of spacing-insulators disposed at suitable intervals, stay-wiresor supports g connected with and insulated from the terminals of theguard-wires d, and an additional conductor uniting the protectiveconductor cl with the return-circuit of the working conductor a,substantially as described.

In witness whereof I hereunto subscribe my name this 27th day of April,A. D. 1899.

EMMERICH FRISOHMUTII.

Witnesses:

HENRY HASPER, WOLDEMAR I-IAUPT.

